Estate agents ‘should be forced to list floor space of properties’ as research …

Cambridge University research shows 55% of homes aren’t big enough
Properties in England are among the smallest in Europe
Poorest are hit hardest by lack of space, academic study shows

By
Lee Boyce

PUBLISHED:

14:59 GMT, 18 June 2014

|

UPDATED:

15:01 GMT, 18 June 2014

Rabbit hutch living: Research suggest we live in some of the smallest homes in Europe. Pictured, Trellick Tower in North Kensington

Estate agents listing properties for rent or sale should be forced to list its floor space according to academics, as data reveals more than half of houses in England are failing to meet modern standards on size.

According to Cambridge University research, 55 per cent of modern homes do not have a big enough floor area while one in five is short of space when taking into account the number of occupants.

The report found that newly built homes in England are the smallest in a league table of floor space of 15 European countries with an average floor space of 76 square metres, compared to 137 in Denmark.

When judged against all homes, England still lagged behind with an average of 85 square metres, beating only Portugal, Greece and Finland.

Flats and small terraced houses were the most commonly undersized, while households with children were most likely to be overcrowded, the research found.

The poorest were hit the hardest by a lack of space, with three quarters of households losing some of their housing benefit under the so-called ‘bedroom tax’ deemed to be undersized.

Only 19 per cent of households losing the benefit could be considered to have more space than they need, authors Malcolm Morgan and Dr Heather Cruickshank, of Cambridge University’s Centre for Sustainable Development said.

They based their findings on standards set by the Greater London Authority in 2011 for internal space in new homes in the capital, which are comparable to standards set by other organisations across the UK and looked at 16,000 homes.

The report recommends the internal area of homes should be clearly stated by estate agents when renting or buying a home and that all local authorities should set minimum space standards.

They also say floor area per person should be considered rather than the number of bedrooms when assessing whether a benefit claimant has a larger home than they require.

European comparison: The size of the average property in other countries in the EU according to the Cambridge University report

Mr Morgan, a PhD candidate, and lead author of the report, said at its worst, overcrowding was linked to poor health including asthma and depression and at a less serious level, caused tensions through lack of privacy.

He said buyers and potential renters should be able to search online using floor space as a criterion.

He added: ‘In most European countries, information on floor space is given and everyone will know how big their house is and how much space they need for their family and their activities whereas here we tend to talk about bedrooms.

‘If floor area was stated it would create an awareness of whether or not you were moving to a bigger house or a smaller house.’

This is Money took a look at a number of estate agent websites to see whether floor space is stated in the description of properties for rent and sale.

In some instances, floor space is clearly marked out, sometimes in square feet and others in square metres, which could add confusion to buyers and renters. Others just list the dimensions of the rooms, leaving people to do the maths themselves.

But on the majority of websites, the size of the property is not listed with no floor plan details revealed making comparisons with current living arrangements difficult.

Tight living: This property was listed on Rightmove earlier in the month despite being 5 sq ft

The report comes as the size of homes you can get for your money continues to shrink, especially in London.

At the start of June, we revealed how this five foot squared ‘studio’ flat in Islington was listed at £730 a month, despite being almost 20 times smaller than the average property in England.

The photograph above shows how the kitchen, bed and even a small table and chair, were crammed into the space and made available for one, or even two, lucky tenants.

Comments (30)

Share what you think

Newest
Oldest
Best rated
Worst rated

The comments below have not been moderated.

britishjohn08,

Georgia, United States,

2 hours ago

How do people live like this. The average here in the Georgia is about 1200-2000sqft.

Chris,

Gloucester, United Kingdom,

3 hours ago

What is this article all about? Most Estate agent details give room sizes and the mandatory Energy Performance Certificate shows total floor area on the top of page one. However British houses are small no argument there but if you’re daft enough to try to house half the world on a small island what do you expect?

Stu Pidd,

Smarter than the ave DM reader,

4 hours ago

Where can one put the full size snooker table?

EvelynGarcia,

New York, United States,

5 hours ago

Check this legitimate ways to mak¿ money from home, working on your own time and being your own boss… Join the many successful people who have already used the system. Only reliable internet connection needed, no prior experience neccessary, that’s why where are here. Start here… l

Dav,

Chat,

5 hours ago

Pic 3 has a 2 ft work top then a 2 foot gap then a bed suitable for at least a 5ft person,yet the room is 5ft square,5 ft wide maybe. Amazing to get things so wrong when doing an article on accurate sizes

Kilo Charlie,

My World, Bermuda,

5 hours ago

Qualifications for being an estate agent as follows: excessive amounts of hair gel, I’ll-fitting suit and pointed shoes. These people do what they want, charge what they want and wouldn’t know he truth if it smacked them in the face. They should be heavily regulated with fixed fees. I’ve dealt with enough estate agents in my time to qualify my views.

Kilo Charlie,

My World, Bermuda,

6 hours ago

But that would mean telling the truth. That’ll be a first.

Bob,

ukip land, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

if they don’t meet the required standard for floor space then the councils should not grant planning permission

georgie,

oxford, United Kingdom,

6 hours ago

Not only should Estate Agents should be forced to list space, they should advertise houses to include taxes just like any other purchase. Easy to implement and collected in exactly the same way as now.

doc spoons,

bristol, United Kingdom,

7 hours ago

Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky…..

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

List.ify.Me

everything is listed…

Estate agents ‘should be forced to list floor space of properties’ as research …

Comments (30)

Share or comment on this article

Comments (30)